Princess of the Nile
by Alex E. Andras
Summary: Summary: Our most favorite place in the whole world, Hamunaptra. A new evil will rise, possessing a powerful magic, could it be more powerful than Imhotep himself?
1. Lessons in the Library

Ok. So technically I shouldn't post this up as it totally goes against me and not wanting to post until I've finished some of my other stories. But I'm bored, and stuck on ideas for most of them, and this one already has a lot of chapters ready and is just taking up space on my discs and pc and is sitting there telling me to put it up and I can't ignore it much longer. So sue me. No… don't. I will reply to my reviews for this story and every other story, but I will as soon as I fix it so that it actually works, and doesn't crash my system every five minutes.

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Summary: Our most favorite place in the whole world, Hamunaptra. A new evil will rise, possessing a powerful magic, could it be more powerful than Imhotep himself?

Disclaimer: I own known of the guys from the Mummy (unfortunately) I can only claim rule over the characters you don't recognize.

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Princess of the Nile

Chapter 1: Lessons of the Library

The large library in London was quiet. As many libraries like it are at gone eleven at night. A pale, watery moon shone in through the windows of the main entrance, lighting up cold grey stone flooring, dark wooded walls and heavy doors, which were closed tight to keep out any drafts or riff-raff. Behind the closed doors the library was still, other than the occasional flick of candle as aged and wizened scholars wandered between the towering shelves of dusty, heavy books and documents, the only sounds the occasional slap of feet on the cold floor, the movement of a book or the sound of clothing moving.

In a dark corner, hidden from the rest of the library and the world by countless aged volumes and towering bookshelves, with only one single candle for lighting, a young woman sat at an elegant oak desk. Her light copper skin contrasted greatly against her light blonde hair, as well as the other occupants of the large library, and light blue eyes scanned the page of text she held in one slender hand. As she reached the end of the text, her lips pursed together and she frowned, before adding something to the piece of paper on the desk.

"Now that's interesting…" she said to herself in a whisper. A noise behind her made her turn her head slightly, and her eyes grew wide to see the large figure, hidden within shadow, behind her.

"Luzige!" she yelled, her voice echoing around the otherwise silent cavernous room. The figure moved one arm upwards, allowing it to enter the light. It was horrifically scarred from the wrist down, the remains of a tattoo barely visible against the dark scarring. In the hand was a large iron candlestick, and as the woman uttered the mans name, the candlestick was brought crashing down onto her head. She fell from the chair she had sat in to the floor. And the figure stepped over, into the light, revealing a beast of a man, tattoos covering one side of his face and the whole of his neck. His mouth was twisted up into a sneer and his eyes narrowed as he bent and lifted the woman easily, flinging her over one shoulder and walking off. All that was left was the page of text, which had fallen from the woman's hands, a pen that had rolled to the floor, the discarded candlestick and the paper the woman had written on. It was written in curly, scruffy writing, and impossible to be read by those who did not speak Arabic.


	2. No News is Good News?

See… I did the math this morning and realised its been two weeks since this was posted so… you get a new chapter! Ain't I a lovely person :D

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Disclaimer: Once again, I own known of the guys from the Mummy (unfortunately) I can only claim rule over the characters you don't recognize.

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Princess of the Nile

Chapter 2: No News is Good News?

Ardeth Bay was not in a particularly good mood.

He walked the length of the Medjai village, the sun just rising over the dunes in the distance, he nodded to the men and women, already up and working that morning, but otherwise stayed in his own gloomy world.

She should have sent a message by now. It had been weeks since he had heard from her, and he had people in Cairo all the time - for any news that was coming in from other countries or to stop grave robbers selling stolen goods from the pyramids to others in the city or take them abroad - yet he had still received no word.

It worried him to think that.

Not that he was _that_ worried. After all, she was Medjai herself. Her father was one of the men serving under him, still fairly young in years as he'd not been older than nineteen when he'd married, and had had his first child the year after. She had grown up with Ardeth, though he was nearly six years older than her, they were better friends than Ardeth had been with many of the other boys. And they'd both been devastated when her mother came and pulled her from the village, dragged her over to London, where she still lived. Ardeth had not seen her for many years after that. Though they had written to each other often, kept the friendly connection between them.

It had only been about six months before hand that he had met her for the first time in nine years, and even then it had only been briefly.

It had been when he had gone to retrieve the key from the O'Connell's and had stopped off in the library where he knew she spent most of her time, reading the texts on Egypt there, mainly to ask her if she knew where the O'Connell's lived. Luckily for him, she did, and he had promised to see her soon and to 'keep in touch'.

Except it had been over a month since the last letter, and he'd not heard anything since.

Ardeth remembered the excitement she had poured into her last letter, she had said that she was sure she was close to finding out something important, and was sure she'd be able to work out and tell him in the next letter what it was. He severely doubted that the information was so amazing that she had forgotten to write to him, she was not the forgetful sort of person. However, Ardeth had a feeling, one that he hoped was not true, that what she had found was so important that someone else had heard of it and had silenced his friend. He hoped that it was not the case, but knew, at the back of his mind, that it most probably was.

The certainty in this had increased so much by the time he reached the long building the animals were kept in at night that he entered and immediately walked over to his horse, saddling it and pulling himself up into the seat.

He was just leaving the stable, to go to Cairo and then on to London, to find her, when his second in command, Amin came rushing over to him.

"Ardeth" he called as he stopped beside the horse "You have heard then? I didn't think anyone could find you."

"Heard what?" Ardeth asked, thinking for a moment that it was news of her, maybe a letter or something

"There is a party of Americans at the Giza pyramids, we think they might be grave robbers. The elders want us to go over there with some of the warriors." Ardeth sighed at this information but nodded his head; Amin disappeared again to gather the warriors, leaving Ardeth alone again. He turned his head away from the village and towards the vast lengths of sand. He really wanted to find her, but his people needed him and Egypt came first, he would go to Cairo as soon as he'd sorted the grave robber problem.


	3. At the Giza Pyramids

Disclaimer: I own known of the characters from the Mummy, they belong to them lucky people of Universal, or whatever it is. I can only claim rule over the characters you don't recognize.

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Princess of the Nile

Chapter 3: At The Giza Pyramids

Ardeth and the warriors watched the party as they went about their business, oblivious to the Medjai warriors sitting on their horses on the dunes above them. It was apparent, from the fact that tents were still being set up and from several, rather childish squabbles that were going on between some of the men over possessions, that the group had only recently arrived. Ardeth watched as one of the men made his way over to a lone horse, its rider, a woman with blonde hair, still on its back. The man stood beside the horse's neck, fiddling with the reins of the animal before reaching over and pulling the woman from the saddle. As soon as the rider had toppled to the sand, the man had grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her up. She followed him silently, leaning slightly so that her hair was not being pulled from her scalp, and held her hands in front of her in such a way that it quickly became obvious to Ardeth that they were tied.

The woman stayed silence as she was pulled into the pyramid that towered over the camp, though she did falter slightly at the entrance before being pulled forcefully in. The man and woman disappeared from view for several minutes, and, shortly before the man left the pyramid, terrified screams came from within. The man paid no notice to them and gestured to several other men, who quickly sprang up and heaved a large stone across the entranceway.

Ardeth turned to the warriors who were watching the scene and their leader and gave a quick nod. The men returned the nodded and drew their scimitars. Another nod from Ardeth and they were all following their leader's horse down the dune to the unsuspecting party below. The battle was quick; the unsuspecting Americans fell quickly to the biting steel of the Medjai's scimitars. Many of the Americans were killed as they made a desperate scramble to pick up weapons or run. Those who did escape would meet a slower end to the sizzling frying pan that was the Sahara, made up of the desert and sun.

As the warriors started to pile up the bodies of the fallen Americans to burn, Ardeth walked over to the pyramid. He could hear the woman on the other side, her sobs echoing around the pyramid passages. Ardeth put a hand to the stone that had been placed before the entranceway, it was very large, no doubt blocking all sun out, and could not be moved by one person. Ardeth turned slightly and signalled to three of his closer men, who quickly came over and helped him push the stone away before going back to help the other warriors. Ardeth drew his scimitar again and entered the pyramid slowly, eyes darting back and forth encase there were more Americans in there as he hunted for the woman.

He was within the pyramid for about twenty minutes before coming across the woman. She was sat with her back to him, hands tied to a large wooden pole placed into the ground, sobs still racking her body so she didn't hear Ardeth as he walked in.

He walked around so that he was facing her and swore. The woman before him had lank blonde hair, though the back of it was matted with old, dried blood. Her clothes were tattered and dirty and there were many bruises on her face and arms. Although her eyes were closed, Ardeth knew that they would be a light blue, and was proved to be right when her eyes opened at the sound of him swear, the fear in them fading slightly once she recognised the man before her.

"Ardeth?" she whispered, her voice hoarse from screaming. Ardeth, still angered by the circumstances under which he had found his friend, merely nodded and moved behind her, slicing the rope that bound her to the pole easily. She rubbed her wrists where the rope had cut into them, turning slightly as Ardeth walked round to face her again, so he could not see her face.

He frowned as she did this, and put one hand gently to her chin and turned her head to face him, tears were rolling down her bruised face, and she struggled against his hand for a moment before pulling her head from his grip and turning it again, so he would not see her cry.

"Emira." He said gently "Emira, look at me." She obeyed meekly, watery blue eyes meeting his brown ones

"I'm sorry." She whispered, Ardeth silenced her apologies with a hand and carefully helped her stand, keeping one hand on her chin to keep her looking at his face.

"Why are you apologising?" he asked, "You have done nothing."

"But-" Emira started

"But if you are apologising about crying." Ardeth butted in, turning slightly to face her as her led her from the room she had been trapped in and into the passage "I wouldn't. It is you're fear." Emira smiled weakly, she had been claustrophobic for most of her life, ever since she had been thrown into a large travelling chest by her mother and left there for two days.

"I'm sorry." She repeated, this time laughing slightly at her second apology, they talked quietly as they walked slowly from the pyramid, Ardeth keeping Emira's attention on him so she wouldn't notice the close proximity of the walls. When they finally broke from the dark passages into natural sunlight, Ardeth freed her hand and she staggered into the pyramid side. Ardeth frowned as she shook.

"You are injured?" he asked

"It's nothing." Emira replied, her eyes closed and breathing heavily. Ardeth shook his head, she had always been like that, wanting to be in good terms with the boys so much that she would always hide the pain she felt. Ardeth reached over and lifted her up, frowning again at the fact that she barely weighed anything. She moved in his arms, trying to protest to him picking her up, trying to show she was fine, but finally gave up in exhaustion, allowing her best friend to carry her to one of the tents left whole after the fight with the Americans.

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Next Update: Saturday, 25th February (I promise it) 


	4. The Healing Process

Disclaimer: I own known of the characters from the Mummy, they belong to them lucky people of Universal, or whatever it is. I can only claim rule over the characters you don't recognize.

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Princess of the Nile  


Chapter 4: The Healing Process

Emira woke as Ardeth set her on the floor in the tent and watched him as he called one of the healers in. Haji was one of the few Emira had grown up with, and his mouth dropped open in shock to see his friend sitting before him, bruised, pale and thin.

"Haji." Emira croaked, smiling slightly

"Emira?" Haji replied, finding his voice and dropping beside the young women, taking one hand to inspect her wrist "What happened?"

Emira shook her head slightly, showing she wished not to discuss it, and closed her eyes, feeling light-headed. She swayed slightly where she sat and Ardeth put a hand to her shoulder

"I will be back to check on you shortly." He said "I will tell the others we are staying here for the night." He strode from the tent as Emira tiredly opened her eyes.

"It's pointless asking me how I am." She croaked to Haji, gesturing at her battered appearance "But how are you?"

"I am well." He replied, moving his gaze from her wrist to the rest of her arm "I am married now, to Damathat." Emira smiled

"Thought you hated her." She whispered, making Haji grin

"You still remember that about me then?" he asked with mirth

"I remember you playing those tricks on her and the other girls." She replied

"I seem to remember you helping?" he shot at her, she shrugged, though it was with some difficulty

"I supervised." She said simply. Haji chuckled, moving to check her other arm

"You jumped in feet first and gave me a hand." He told her

"Maybe." She gave him a grin and then looked at her upper arm, there were several dirty strips of cloth wrapped around it, and Haji was peeling them off. The wound, a long gash, soon presented itself and she frowned to see it was still bleeding slightly

"_Bugger it_." She said softly in English. She stayed still and silent as Haji began to treat the wound, only moving when the tent flap was pulled up and Ardeth entered.

"We will be travelling back to the village early tomorrow." He said, dropping beside the woman and passing her his canteen "When was the last time you ate?"

"Scraps? Couple of days ago." She answered with a shrug after taking a swig from the canteen "A proper meal? A month, maybe a bit longer, it's hard to keep track."

Ardeth raised an eyebrow at her answer, she was speaking calmly, as if it were merely the weather she was on about, but her eyes still contained a certain amount of fear, and flickered from the faces of the men in front of her to the tent flap occasionally. He looked from her to Haji, the younger man was frowning slightly as he finished tidying up the wound on Emira's arm and then his eyes flicked to her bruised face, the frown deepening as he placed a hand on her chin to inspect the bruises

"They have not been kind to you, the men who had you." He said, it was a statement rather than a question, but Emira felt obliged to answer anyway

"I suppose, they damn well know how to give you a headache as well."

"You are safe now." Haji said, Emira grinned

"I'm being looked after by you and Ardeth, am I allowed to disagree?" she asked. Ardeth laughed, drawing the woman's attention back to him and he helped her stand

"Come." He said, "You need to eat."

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Next Update: Unless I really can't work out my dates, it's the 11th March, and I swear not to check the date on the computer at 10:15 pm and realise I need to update this time :D 


	5. Home Again

Disclaimer: I own nothing save a few characters, you all know who they are.

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Princess of the Nile

Chapter 5: Home Again

It took most of the next morning to reach the Medjai village. Ardeth rode in first with Emira on one of the horses taken from the Americans directly behind him. The warriors were greeted by the village as they entered it, riding to the centre of the village, where there was a large space for such occasions and other meetings or sports, the villagers gathered round as they slipped from the backs of their steeds, young children running forwards to take the horses back to the stables or to throw themselves into the arms of their fathers.

"Oh yes, this is definitely how I remember it." Emira whispered to herself as she studied the crowd, those of the women around her age were either moving towards their husbands or lovers with most of the other women or smiling flirtatiously at Ardeth, though he was apparently ignoring the looks he was receiving off them, Emira began to wonder if he had a wife. He had never said in any of his letters, but there was always a chance he was married.

"Emira-El-Nil!" a shout came from the crowd - many people turned to look at her, noticing her for the first time, a buzz of whispers rang through the crowd - and she grinned wildly as an older man stepped forwards.

"Father!" Emira cried, speeding forwards and throwing herself into the mans arms. He pulled her close against him, hugging her for all he was worth

"I did not think I would see you again." He murmured to her "I thought we would only stay in contact through letters.

"You can't keep me away father." Emira replied, tears streaming from her eyes as she buried her head into her fathers shoulder "Nothing will ever stop me." Her father smiled and pulled away from her, looking at his daughter for the first time in nine years

"You have grown beautifully." He remarked, raising her head with one hand and frowned at the bruises on her face "What has happened?" She pulled away from him and lowered her gaze to the floor

"I will tell you after. Ardeth will need to hear it as well." She mumbled. Her father nodded and pulled her into a hug again

"I am happy to see you again." He told her "You have made an old man happy to see his first child again."

"I am happy to see you too, father." She replied, "Though you are not old."

"I am my child, there is no denying it." He said, "Your brothers will be happy to see you again." Emira looked at him with a smile

"They are both here?" she asked

"Fareed returned from Cairo a couple of days ago, he has said that he will be staying a while. Zameel is a warrior, you would have seen him yesterday but his wife was having his first child, or should I say children, he stayed behind." Emira grinned and followed her father through the crowd to where her brothers stood.

Fareed was the youngest of them, nineteen years old with short cut brown hair and green eyes, though he kept the same skin colouring as his sister. They were on good terms, but not _exactly_ the greatest of siblings, and he merely nodded as she walked up with their father.

Zameel was only a year younger than his sister, and every bit of a Medjai warrior. He looked a lot like their father, with shoulder length black hair, dark brown eyes and a good build. Unlike his younger brother, he bore the tattoos that many of the Medjai did on his face, and pulled his sister into a hug as she stepped over.

"Emira." He said as he hugged her "I haven't seen you in ages."

"And I you Zameel." She replied, "What is this I hear of your wife?" Zameel smiled down at her, he was not a tall man, but Emira had always been small for her age, and was over a head shorter than her brother.

"Al-Shama gave me a pair of beautiful girls last night, you must come and see them." Emira nodded and allowed herself to be pulled off by her brother, noting Fareed's look of distaste as she went.

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Next Update: I suck, I'm the worst for remembering the date and remembered at 3am that I'd promised an update. I swear, the next one will be on the 25th March. 


	6. Reunited

Yes. I know this is late by a day. But guess what, I have a very good excuse! Been away for the past few days in a caravan, so no computer or internet for me! And then fanfic wouldn't let me upload anything for some reason. But I got it up, didn't I? And I swear next update you will actually have it on time!  
Oh. And just encase anyone really wanted to know. Emira is 23, Zameel is 22, Fareed is 19 (but you all already knew that) and Ardeth is 30.

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Disclaimer: I own nothing save a few characters, you all know who they are by now.

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Princess of the Nile

Chapter 6: Reunited

"Hello Al-Shama." Emira said as she entered her brother's home and knelt beside the woman there. Her brothers wife was very beautiful. With long dark hair and shining eyes, high sculptured cheekbones and a smiling face. She gave a nod

"Hello Emira, it had been a long time since I have seen you."

"Near ten years, it's good to be back." Emira agreed, smiling gently "Are these your twins?" she nodded at the two tiny babies sleeping in small beds beside Al-Shama.

"Yes." The young woman said with a nod, "These are Yasmeen and Negma." She pointed to the two babies as she gave there names "Would you like to hold one of them?" Emira smiled and Al-Shama passed her Yasmeen. The smile on Emira's face broadened as she cooed over the tiny child in her arms.

"She's beautiful." She said "They both are." She looked up at Zameel and smirked "They take after their mother in looks, I'd feel sorry for them if they took after you." Zameel grinned back and sat beside his wife, pulling her into his arms

"If you weren't holding Yasmeen I'd beat you up for saying that." He told his sister

"I'd like to see you try." Emira snorted. She passed the baby she held back to Al-Shama and stood, wincing slightly in pain.

"You look terrible Emira." Zameel said seriously "Are you alright?"

"I am fine Zameel, don't worry about me, you've got to look after Al-Shama and the twins." She nodded to the two and quickly left the house.

"Emira!" Zameel shouted after her. She stopped walking to let him catch up

"What?" she asked, starting to walk again. Zameel grabbed her arm to stop her and felt her wince

"What has happened to you Emira?" he asked, pulling the sleeve of her tattered shirt up to look at her bruised arm "I've never seen a woman who's been beaten up so much, it's not right. What's happened?" Emira wrenched her arm from his grasp, lowering her head so she didn't have to look at him

"Nothing's happened." She said "Don't fret over me, you've got your own family to worry over now." She started to walk off again, but Zameel grabbed her shoulders and spun her round, making her wince more and bite her lip to stop herself screaming.

"Emira." He said gravely "You're my family, and my only sister. I'll worry over you all I want. What's happened?" Emira shook her head

"Come with me, I'll tell you and father and Ardeth at the same time, save repeating myself." She pulled herself from his grasp again and took his hand, pulling him with her.

X

"Luzige knocked me out, when I came round again I was in a hotel room with this group of men. They wanted to know everything I'd found out about the statuette of Princess Chione. I wouldn't tell they, so they tortured me. In the end I said it was hidden in one of the Giza pyramids, I know the Med-Jai watch over the pyramids and you'd be able to stop them. I didn't count on them locking me inside one unless I told them the specific location, or if they found it themselves." She looked down at her feet, wringing her hands once she'd finished her account. No one moved for a moment, then Emira's father stood, walking over to where his daughter sat and rested a hand reassuringly on her shoulder.

"Who is Princess Chione?" Zameel asked. Emira looked up at him and smiled weakly

"Not much is known about her. Other than that she was a Princess of the eighteenth dynasty. I found an Egyptian text in one of the London libraries from around that time. She was evil, it was said that she tried to take over from her father, Ay, but was found out before she could kill him and suffered the Hom-Dai. The only other person to go under that that we know of was-"

"Imhotep" Ardeth finished for her, Emira nodded

"All of Chione's things were destroyed because it was thought that they held some of her evil powers." Emira continued "Only after everything was gone did Ay realise that one thing hadn't been destroyed."

"The statuette." Zameel said

"Yes." Emira agreed, standing up and beginning to pace the tent "It was a small thing made for Ay of his daughter, but he noticed it had vanished, and knew it hadn't been destroyed. It is said that he had a dream the night before he died, exactly a year after his daughter had been condemned to the Hom-Dai, the dream showed the room Chione was buried in, the statuette standing on top of her sarcophagus. He said that it would bring her back to life, and she'd take over the whole of Egypt, and later the world."

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Next Update: 8th April. And feel free to hit me with a shovel if it doesn't come up on this day. 


	7. Pain

It's going to become common knowledge that I have the worst memory ever. I'm sorry! I forgot the date and only remembered this morning that I owed you an update.

Disclaimer: I own everything you don't recognise.

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Princess of the Nile

Chapter 7: Pain

"Why do we always get problems involving dead people and the end of the world?" Zameel asked, Emira smiled slightly and punched him hard on the arm. He inclined his head and grinned in return

"This is a problem." Ardeth said slowly, his forehead creased with worry "Where is Princess Chione buried?"

"Our most favorite place in the whole world." Emira replied sarcastically "Hamunaptra."

"Why does that place always have to be linked to our problems?" Zameel asked quietly.

"Zameel has a very valuable point." Emira said "Can't we just rid ourselves of Hamunaptra's lovely curses in one go?"

"Unfortunately not." her father replied

"Course." Emira said "It'd be to easy." she sat down heavily and drew a small pattern in the sand.

"I need to go and speak to the Elders." Ardeth said "We will work out what to do then." he left the tent quickly, striding off through the village to tell the Elders everything Emira had told him.

"I thought Ay only had two children." Their father said thoughtfully, Emira turned to him

"Only two that were ever truly documented. Nefertiti and Mutnedjemet. Chione was cancelled out of all records after trying to kill her father, only a few books ever mention her."

"So Emi." Zameel said, drawing her attention back to him "How was life away from here?"

Emira scowled and sighed

"_She_," she spat, meaning her mother "Dragged me over to London and her new man. _He _hated me, so mum kept me locked in the house for a while,. Her man making me do all sorts of chores. I was sent to an orphanage, eventually." She shook her head from the memories "I hate to say that they were the better years of living with them over there. Soon as I was old enough, I got out. Found work in the library and managed to get a room with low rent close to it."

"You said they tortured you." Zameel said, Emira nodded slowly

"They starved me, beat me up and…" she held up her hands to them, showing the fingers to be bloody and raw at the ends

""Emi." Zameel hissed sympathetically "What did they do?" he got up and sat beside her, taking one of her hands to examine the tips

"I wouldn't say anything so they attacked me under the finger nails with splinters. Wrecked a couple of good beds in the process." She hissed as Zameel gently touched one of her fingers and tried to pull away from him

"Has Haji seen these?" he asked her "They look infected, you _need_ to have them looked at."

"Fine." Emira replied softly "Go get Haji, tell him… everything he needs to know." Zameel nodded and hurried off. Their father crouched before his daughter, taking her hands gently in his and gazing into her eyes

"I don't believe this is all they have done to you, Emira." He spoke softly, his voice barely audible "I can see a lot of pain and torture in your eyes, you've suffered a lot." He drew her into a hug, and she cried softly into his shoulder

"I'm sorry father." She whispered eventually, he drew back from her and observed her face

"You have nothing to be sorry for, child." He told her with a small smile "you have every right to cry." Emira smiled halfheartedly and wiped at her eyes as Zameel came back, Haji hard on his heels.

"Zameel told me about your hands." He said, dropping down in front of her and taking one hand, inspecting her fingers closely, he hissed and looked up at her "Do they not hurt you Emira? They look really bad." He turned to Zameel "Can you get me some water and bandages?" Zameel nodded and disappeared

"They don't hurt, Haji." Emira said softly, gazing down at her wrecked fingers "Honestly. I don't even feel-" she cut herself off with a hiss as Haji blew gently on her fingertips and looked up at her, one eyebrow raised and a satisfied but grim smile on his face.

"Ok you horrible little man." She hissed, earning a snort of laughter from both Haji and her father, she being so much shorter than them both "You've proved your point. Are you happy now?" Haji shook his head and brought her other hand forwards, examining that as well

"Far from it, Emira." He said shortly "These are badly infected, I'm surprised you don't have a fever…" his head snapped up as he said it and one hand went to her forehead, frowning slightly

"What are you doing?" Emira asked, rolling her eyes

"You're a little warm." Haji told her as Zameel returned "Why didn't you tell me about your hands when we found you?"

"Emi doesn't like admitting to things like pain Haji, you should know that." Zameel answered for his sister, sitting beside her.

"Shut up Zameel." Emira sang, he rolled his eyes and she snapped one hand away from Haji's hold and hit him over the head before he took it and held it firmly

"None of that now, sister." He laughed "It's not very nice."

"I'm not a very nice person." She pointed out in return. "Never have been."

"That's true." Haji murmured as he dipped one of the bandages into the water and gently started to clean Emira's hands "A lot of people would agree."

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Next update: Unless my mind fails me again, Next chapter is on April 22nd 


	8. The Mystery

I'm going to buy sticky-notes, write the dates of my next updates, and then stick them to my bedroom door – maybe that way, I'd update on time!

Disclaimer: I own everything you don't recognise.

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Princess of the Nile

Chapter 8: The Mystery

Emira twitched back the flap of the tent and peered out through the small gap. Light was just beginning to creep away from the tented area, many of the others who currently occupied the village were beginning to set up fires or gather children to eat and retire to their beds. A small smile crept over the young woman's face as she slunk out of the tent and walked quietly around the backs of the other around it, finally coming to a stop outside one, she was just pulling back the tent flap when a voice halted her

"I thought Haji said you weren't to leave your tent?"

"Has he being telling you everything?" she asked in reply, letting the tent flap fall from her hand and turning to face Ardeth

"Possibly." he crossed over the short distance between them and took one of her hands, looking at the bandaged fingers "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Did I have to?" Emira replied harshly, pulling her hand from his grasp

"Emira." Ardeth said slowly "Don't be difficult. We're not children any more."

"We haven't been children in a long time, Ardeth." Emira pointed out sadly "You became Med-jai leader at the age of twenty, I was dragged away from my home at fourteen. We have to grow up fast if we want to survive."

"What are you doing up?" Ardeth asked, ignoring Emira's statement "Haji said you've got a fever, you should be moving around to much."

"I'm fine." Emira replied, a small smile came to her face "Besides, I haven't washed in over a month. I must stink up a storm!" Ardeth laughed and pulled her close for a second before pushing her gently into the tent they were in front of

"You're right, you do." He laughed from outside "I want you back in your tent straight afterwards, Haji will murder you if he finds you out."

"_Git" _Emira whispered softly before laughing, she heard Ardeth's deep laugh from the other side and knew he had heard her.

X

Ardeth walked away from Emira and his mood dropped again, a frown going to his face as he trudged further across the village to his own tent. The meeting with the Elder's had gone well – perhaps a little too much – as they were doubling security on Hamunaptra, constant watches all the time, and putting those in the main cities on guard, so that they would know as soon as if anyone so much as _breathed _the word Hamunaptra or Chione.

There was something else that bugged Ardeth. Emira had, without doubt, been in Egypt for a week at the least, probably two. Yet no-one had noticed the young Med-jai woman. None of the people he had up in the cities had breathed one word about the well known spirited woman who had – up until nine years before – been the most talked about girl in the village. She was labelled a trouble maker by parents and strange by the other girls, and she had made sure to live up to those words. Ardeth doubted that she would not have been forgotten in the time she'd been away from them. The chance that none of the Med-jai in the cities, especially Cairo, had not seen her whilst she'd been there was almost non-existent. At least Fareed should have seen her.

_Something just didn't add up._

Ardeth shook his head, letting the thoughts from his mind, and nodded to two of his men as they walked past him to go to their posts for the nights watch. Even in the desert you had to be ready for an attack at any time. He smiled to himself, realising that as soon as Emira was well enough, she would start training again, she wouldn't like the fact that the men were so much better than her at what they all did best just because she'd been away for nine years. And it would give him the perfect opportunity to talk to her, find out what had been going on in the past nine years.

He also needed as much information from her as possible about Chione. Perhaps it would help if they went out there, so she could show him and the others the exact place that Chione was buried, so they could be sure that no-one would get to her.

After all, the Imhotep incidents were still fresh on everyone's minds.

"Ardeth?" the voice broke Ardeth from his thoughts and he turned to see Haji standing nearby "Have you seen Emira? She's not in her tent."

Ardeth smiled at the worry on Haji's face for their wild friend

"She's cleaning up. Can't stand being dirty for another minute." He laughed. Haji broke into a grin and nodded

"I want to check on her hands." He said "And her arm, if what she's said is correct, she's had that wound there for several weeks, it needs looking at properly."

Ardeth nodded, distracted, realising something else. Emira had been locked up in the pyramid, fairly far back, and tied to a post to ensure she couldn't escape. Her captures _knew _of her claustrophobia. It wasn't information she gave lightly. In fact, the only people who knew of her fear were her brothers, her father, Haji and Ardeth. Yet she had been locked in the pyramid in such a way that it almost proved perfectly that her captures had know of her fear.

_Something wasn't right._

"Ardeth?" the voice came again, and Ardeth snapped from his daze to see Haji looking at him worriedly

"I was thinking." Ardeth said by way of apology. Haji nodded

"You keep getting distracted, and you have that look about you. Like you're going to do something incredibly brave and smart, but very stupid as well." They both shared a grin "I'll leave you to your thoughts." Haji added "I'm going to check on Emira and make her eat something before sending her back to her tent." he nodded to Ardeth and walked off, leaving the Med-jai leader to get wrapped in his thoughts once again.

X

Emira stepped back into the cool night air three-quarters of an hour later, much of the dirt gone from her body, her face red from scrubbing and her hair damp. She'd barely gone a few yards before a hand lay softly on her shoulder and, unconsciously, Emira spun around and punched the person behind her

"Haji!" she yelped as her friend let out a small moan "I'm so sorry! I just forget where I was! You startled me! I'm so-"

"Calm down Emira." Haji replied with a small smile, wiping the sliver of blood from his nose "I'm sorry I startled you."

"Should have been prepared for that, Haji." Emira said with a mocking grin, obviously over her initial shock "Med-jai. Should have been ready to block."

"I didn't expect my friend to punch me in the face." Haji reminded her "But I'll keep it in mind for next time. Maybe you should remember that you should also have been prepared for someone coming up behind you. After all… you are Med-jai." He smirked and Emira laughed in reply

"Good come-back my friend." She said, shaking her head and letting her golden blonde hair whip around her head like rats tails "I hate my hair when it's wet." She grumbled, pulling a face and she picked up a few strands and pulled them across her face, inspecting them with disgust written in her features.

"Come Emira." Haji said after watching her for a couple of seconds "I need to re-bandage your hands and your arm, and you need to eat."

"Alright." She mumbled, distracted. Haji shook his head, Emira and Ardeth were alike when they got lost in thought. Not bothering to call her from her thoughts, Haji gently took Emira's arm and dragged her after him. That seemed to do the trick, for she gasped and started to let loose a string of mild curses in English

"Calm down Emira.," he said after a few moments "What would your father say if he heard you springing that lot?"

"If you'd been rudely dragged from your thoughts by someone you'd be yelling to!" Emira said hotly, though she smiled and winked at her friend. He merely shook his head and released her arm, they had come up before a fairly large fire, where a pretty young woman sat with two young children in her lap, a third at her feet and a cooking pot on the flames.

"Damathat." Emira said with a smile, nodding to the woman. Damathat looked up and nodded her reply, her eyes searching Emira's face.

"Emira?" she questioned eventually. Emira nodded and Damathat laughed "I barely recognised you then! Please, sit down." Emira took up the offer and sat opposite the other woman, inwardly grinning as the children took secretive and curious looks at her

"It's been a while Dama." She said "I can forgive you." Damathat laughed and brushed her long black hair back, pushing her children from her lap and leaning forwards to the fire

"You'll stay and eat with us, yes?" she asked, Emira glanced at Haji and nodded

"Seems your husband is ordering me to." She told Damathat. The woman whipped her heads to the side and glared at her husband as he stepped from a tent, a bowl and some cloths held in his hand

"Don't give me that look." He said quickly "She needs to eat, and I want to sort out her wounds. Why not kill two birds with one stone?"

"Because," Emira stated simply "That's plain lazy." Damathat giggled as Haji rolled his eyes and threw the cloths at Emira.

"Don't be difficult." He said, sitting down close to her and placing the bowl at his feet

"You ruin all my fun" Emira replied quickly. Passing him the bandages that he'd thrown at her. He caught hold of her hand before she could pull them back. Rolling his eyes at her glare he started to clean off one hand. Damathat leaned over his shoulder and studied what her husband was doing for a moment before getting a close look at Emira's face and hissing in sympathy

"Somehow," she stated, moving back and pulling one of her children into a protective embrace "I believe that the people who did that to you got something a lot worse."

"You're right there then." Haji replied to his wife "Those who got away from us ended up in the desert." Damathat shook her head and busied herself with what was in the pot as Haji cleaned Emira's other hand.

"So…" Emira said in the silence, looking towards the three children "Haji. You didn't tell me you had children as well." Haji gave her a swift grin

"Annipe, my eldest, is seven." He told her "Manu is five and Mesi is two."

"They're lovely" Emira said, gazing towards them

"Do you have anyone in England for you Emira?" Damathat asked, picking up a bowl and spooning the some of the contents of the pot into it. Emira blushed and shook her head

"Oh no." she said "I haven't had much luck with men. They just don't like me." She stuck her tongue out at Haji and rolled her eyes "I'm okay with it. I don't need them." Haji's laugh rang across the camp and Emira hit him on the arm. He caught hold of the offending arm and put his hand to the neat, but slightly damp, bandage that were there.

"I need to check your wound." He said "I'm not happy with it."

"Not happy?" Emira frowned as she watched him unwrap the bandage "What do you mean – not happy?" Haji didn't reply straight away, but nodded when he exposed the wound, showing that it was still bleeding slightly

"How old is this?" he asked gently, running a finger along the red skin that surrounded it. Emira hissed and winced as his finger came into contact with the skin and then shrugged

"Four days, give or take." She said "I'm not really sure, stuck in a room, couldn't really tell."

"How did you get it?" Haji questioned. Emira chewed her lip in thought

"I think, one of the men stuck me with a knife, trying to getting information out of me. I don't know." Haji gave her a stunned glance but then turned back to her arm

"It needs stitches Emira." He said "And I think it's infected as well, Annipe." He called to his eldest daughter "Go and get my bag from the tent, please?" the seven year old nodded and ran into the tent, appearing seconds later with a large leather bag in her hands. She passed it to her father silently, he eyes fixed on Emira

"Hey there." The woman said gently, "I'm Emira, I'm a friend of your mum and dad's." The young girl nodded, putting a finger to her mouth, she swayed gently, eyes locked onto Emira's and then grinned

"You're pretty." She said suddenly, before running off behind her families tent. Emira smiled after her and then turned her head towards Haji, who was watching her with amusement

"She's right." He said, busying himself with a needle and thread "Even with all the bruises anyone can see you're beautiful."

"Haji!" Damathat spoke sharply, though a smile played at her lips "Stop flirting with Emira! You've got a wife and children."

"Sorry Dama." He husband replied, ducking his head to hide his smile

"Here Emira." Damathat crouched beside the woman and held out a bowl for her "I'm betting this is something you haven't had in a while."

Emira accepted the bowl happily and quickly dug in, finishing the spicy food within minutes she grinned

"Can't say I've had a meal like that in nine years." She said "Thank you Damathat. Haji. I hope we can do this again sometime." She stood, waved to the quiet children, and walked through the dark back to her tent.

"You're a tricky person to find, Emira." A low voice said as she tugged the tent flap open. With a startled yell, she let go of the material as though she'd been stung and span on her heel

"Fareed!" she yelped "Mind not scaring me half to death?" A white toothed smile was given to her in reply and her younger brother stepped forwards, catching her arm and studying her face carefully

"You need to calm down sister." He said "There was a time when you would have continued on and then thrown sand in my eyes."

"There was a time when you were going to become a warrior." Emira replied coolly "Now, excuse me, I'm going to bed. She wrenched her arm from his grasp and turned into her tent. Fareed strode off into the dark, smirking.

* * *

Next update: And I'm sticky-noting it to my bedroom door. Chapter 9 will be up on Sturday 6th May, I hope! 


	9. Persuasion

Sticky-notes work best when you actually use them. I suck at remembering dates until the most inconvenient of times (like in a cinema for 30 seconds) and need to find a way for this pc to send me a reminder, so that I'll never forget 

Disclaimer: I own everything you don't recognise.

* * *

Princess of the Nile

Chapter 9 - Persuasion

Emira stirred in her sleep and woke up. For a moment she panicked, forgetting where she was, believing herself to still be with her American kidnappers. Then memory snapped into place and she smiled at her own foolishness. Only for a second though. Chills ran up her body, even though it was a fairly warm night for the desert and she had plenty of blankets to keep her warm. She quickly realised it wasn't due to her being cold, but that something was wrong. She lay still for a moment before slowly pulling herself from her bed, finding out the shirt and skirt she'd worn the day before she changed quickly and crept out of her tent.

It was still dark, with no hint that dawn was approaching soon and she frowned for a moment, out of the corner of her eye she saw movement, and tensed, turning slightly. She relaxed to see it was only a tent flap being pulled back. A Medjai stealthily moved out, a slim hand appearing behind him, holding a scimitar. The Medjai nodded his thanks and close-up his tent again. He turned, saw Emira and quietly made his way over

"Emira." He said quietly "Nice to know your senses haven't failed you in the time you've been away from us." Emira nodded, a puzzled look sweeping across her face. An image flashed into her head, Zameel and a taller friend throwing her into the glistening waters of an oasis for her fourteenth birthday.

"Niu!" she whispered in recognition. The man grinned and clapped a hand onto her shoulder

"Nice to know the memory hasn't faded either." He stated

"You're going to pay for throwing me into that oasis." She told him, the man visibly winced, obviously hoping that she had forgotten about that. "Did you feel it to? I thought it was just because I haven't been here in ages but…" she shivered and drew her arms round her

"Emira?" Niu said "Are you alright?"

"Something's going to happen." Emira whispered "You sense it to, don't you." She looked past him to the other tents, more Medjai were creeping silently from their beds "You all do."

"Maybe you should go back to bed Emira." Niu spoke silently, he wasn't looking at the young woman, his eyes scanning the horizon beyond her "We don't want you getting hurt, and you have no weapon."

"Niu." Emira said threateningly "If what I sense is what you sense, then you're going to be waking up all the women and children to get them into the centre of the village. I'm not stupid, I remember the attacks from before, and I can fight, remember? Just give me a weapon."

"Emir-"

"Niu." Emira cut him off quietly but sharply, her voice allowing no room for argument "Where do you keep the spare scimitars?"

"Amin's tent holds all the spare weapons." He replied, "If you go now, you might just catch him before the attack." Emira nodded, darting round the muscular man and sped off between the tents.

She soon stopped, and a swore mentally at herself, she had no idea where Amin's tent was. Sighing in frustration she wandered slowly around the tents, hoping to see the man in the dark. A hand grabbed her arm and she spun quickly

"Ardeth?" she asked, seeing her friends serious face

"How are you feeling?" he said in reply, his eyes searching her face. She looked taken aback for a moment, before nodding

"I'm alright. Better than before." Ardeth nodded, taking her hand and pulling her along behind him. They stopped outside a fairly large tent and he went inside, reappearing moments later with a scimitar

"You remember how to use this?" he asked, Emira nodded, taking the lethal weapon and testing its weight

"Yes." She said, a small smile coming to her face and her eyes glinting with excitement "Yes."

"Good. Use it. I can't persuade you otherwise." He gave her a brief smile and pulled out his own weapon, Emira started to move off between the tents "Emira.?"

"Ardeth?"

"Don't get hurt." Emira grinned and nodded, a movement so slight it was nearly lost in the dark.

Ardeth watched her go for a moment before striding over to one of the other tents, their was muffled speech from inside, and then Amin came out, nodding to Ardeth, they started across to the others, both ready to fight at the slightest hint.

"Emira's fighting?" Amin asked, Ardeth nodded

"She's well enough." He said slowly "And trying to stop her would be next to impossible."

"She'll be alright." Amin reassured, "If it gets too ugly we can send her back to the women." Ardeth frowned at this

"I hope so."

* * *

Next update: 20th May for Chapter 10! 


	10. The Battle

Princess of the Nile

Chapter 10 – The Battle

* * *

Emira crept through the tents and stopped next to Haji. Looking over at the woman, he smiled and nodded his head

"Ardeth letting you fight?" he asked, Emira grinned

"Knows I'm too stubborn not to." She told him, turning her eyes towards the sand "Any sign of them yet?"

"Not yet." Haji replied distractedly, he cast a glance sideways "Maybe they know you're here" Emira pulled a face and elbowed her friend, though he blocked it easily

"There!" she whispered, raising her arm, Haji followed the line of her scimitar and spotted what she had seen – a thick line of black against the sand dunes directly in front of them

"Ardeth!" Haji hissed, the leader seemed to materialise out of the dark behind them, his eyes also travelled up the length of Emira's weapon and he nodded.

"We will wait." he told the warriors "They can not stay there forever."

And it appeared that they wouldn't, for no more than four minutes later a yell had started up from behind the dunes and suddenly a large number of dark clothed men appeared over the dunes, swords and guns held high and screaming as they bore down on the waiting Med-jai warriors. The Med-jai stepped forwards as the invaders closed in on them, the two groups meeting with a deafening clash of weapons, and screams of the dying quickly joined the sounds of battle. One fighter, running at Emira, staggered back slightly to see such a petite young woman pulling a bloodied sword from the body of one of his comrades, a look of blood lust in her eye. She seemed to realise someone was staring at her, for her head snapped up and immediately she locked eyes with the now suddenly nervous fighter. Only for a second did they stare each other, for then Emira turned to fight another intruder running at her and a Med-jai warrior cut the stunned fighters throat.

Emira was, for the most part, enjoying herself. The weapon she held seemed to be almost part of her arm, and her mind and arm acted on instinct to defend and kill the men who charged her. That was the one bit that she disliked, each man she killed sent shivers through her spine. But then, that's what made you human by her reckoning. A blood curdling scream sounded over the other sounds of the battle field and Emira turned her head to see two men, seemingly to huge in height to be natural, and astride horses that didn't look like they should be able to bare the weight, baring down on Ardeth and Haji, who stood side by side. Emira gave a yell and sprinted forwards, weaving through the other fighting groups until she was beside her two best friends, standing solidly before am imposing wall of horse hooves and swords

"Emira?" Ardeth said questionably

"Couldn't let you have all the fun." she replied, not even looking at him "I reckon these are all show. One hit and they'll be down." she gave a grin and shook her head "Ah. It's nice to dream, isn't it?" Haji laughed in spite of himself, backing away as one of the two horses bared down on him.

"This is not going to be easy." He murmured

"When is it ever easy?" Emira shot back sarcastically, diving into a roll as one of the horses reared, hooves plunging down at her. They caught her skirt and she gave a yell tugging at her skirt for a moment before the horse reared again. She rolled away from its flaying hooves and staggered to her feet.

"Now I'm mad." She hissed, a murderous glare in her eye. Grasping her scimitar with both hands, her face pale with determination, she ran at one of the horses, dashing around its side and slicing her weapon into its riders leg, hearing his shout of pain as she skidded to a halt several metres behind the creature. She turned around, shaking her hair from her eyes, and saw Ardeth attacking one rider, Haji taking on the one she had just wounded. She watched as the horse Haji was up against reared suddenly, throwing its rider and bolting away, the man leapt to his feet, wincing harshly as he put pressure onto his cut leg, but was quickly engaged in battle with Haji again.

With a yell, Emira was running forwards again. She leapt onto the back of the man Haji was fighting, forcing her scimitar into his back and the same time Haji slit his throat. The man crumpled to the ground, Emira pulling her sword from the corpse and leaping gracefully from his back as he did so and then looked to Ardeth, who was pulling his own weapon from the chest of the other large man.

"We're done here." Ardeth whispered as those few survivors of their enemy staggered away from the battle and fled for their lives. He scanned his own group of warriors, a number of them sported injuries, a few lay dead.

"Haji." He said quickly "Get some of the women to help you with the injured." Haji nodded "Burn the bodies." Ardeth said to the warriors as a whole, nodding to the corpses of the attackers "Gather ours and alert their families. You fought well. Any of their survivors I want kept alive. We can question them on why the-" he was cut off by a moan from behind him and turned to see Emira stagger, and watched as she hit the sand heavily.


	11. Sickness

Yes I know, it's been ages since I've updated, and I've broken the fact that I update every fortnight. But I've had exams every day for the past two and a half weeks. No more now (except for one on Thursday), and I'm off from school for two and a half months. So there should be updates in everything soon.

* * *

Princess of the Nile

Chapter 11: Sickness

For a second after Emira had hit the hard sand the entire army of warriors froze. Then Ardeth was beside her, his fingers against her throat as he desperately searched for a pulse.

It took a moment before he was able to find it, it was weak, but he brushed it off partially due to the fact that she had been weak when they rescued her, and that had only been two days before. Carefully, he slid one arm under her back and the other under her knees, gently lifting her up. She whimpered quietly, her expression one of pain, and one hand subconsciously moved to grasp the arm of his robes.

"Emira?" he questioned. She jerked harshly in his arms and he was forced to sit on the ground, watching her closely. From the corner of his eye he saw one of the warriors coming towards him.

"Ardeth?" the voice of his second in command, Amin came, and the younger man dropped beside his leader. Ardeth looked up at him for a moment, then back to Emira, taking his arm from her knees, he ran it over her forehead and frowned

"I need Haji" he muttered quietly "Her fears worse, and she's in pain." Amin nodded

"Niu's gone to find him." He replied "They'll be here in a moment." He turned his eyes to watch Emira as she muttered under her breath, her arm flew out and he caught it before it hit him in the stomach, and held it gently.

"Ardeth!" a yell came from behind them, and Haji ran over to them, dropping down beside the female with worry in his eyes. "What happened?" he questioned as he checked her pulse

"She collapsed." Ardeth replied "She's got a high fever." Haji nodded, his hand going to the woman's forehead to check for himself

"We need to get her back to her tent." Haji said swiftly, standing up, Ardeth stood as well, and the two hurried across the camp to Emira's tent.

X

"How is she?" Ardeth asked as he entered the tent. He had had to talk to the elders, but his mind had been on his unconscious friend the whole time.

"Her fear's still rising." Haji replied, he was standing at the entrance of the tent, watching Emira as her father sat beside her "The wounds she got before we found her, they're badly infected. It's probably what's making her this sick."

"Is that why she collapsed?" Ardeth questioned, Haji shook his head

"I doubt it. Her leg's badly broken. When we were fighting the horsemen, one of the animals caught her skirt with its hooves. I think it caught her leg as well." Ardeth nodded, remembering seeing that happen, then his eyes widened

"She kept fighting with a broken leg!" he exclaimed "How bad is it?"

"Bad enough." Haji muttered "She's not going to be able to walk for a long while. If you ask me, she's lucky that the animal didn't shatter the bones." Ardeth winced, that was bad news, he shook his head and strode over to Emira's father.

"Haji said she'll be alright as long as this damn fever breaks soon." He said as Ardeth sat beside him

"She'll be fine." Ardeth reassured both of them, "Where's Zameel?"

"He doesn't know yet." The older man replied, "He went to find Al-Shama. Niu's gone to tell him." Emira moved around and muttered in her fevered state "She's been doing that a lot, just talking to herself." Ardeth leant forwards as Emira continued to mutter, frowning as he tried to catch the words

"She keeps saying the same things." Her father said quietly "'The Statuette of Chione is at Hamunaptra' and then she switches to Ancient Egyptian 'I had no part in it' and then 'Look after her'. Nothing more. Just the same things every time." He shook his head and ran a hand across his daughter's forehead "Her fever just keeps getting worse." He muttered sadly.

"Father!" the two men looked up to see Zameel hurry into the tent. He took one look at his sister and paled, slowing to a walk and then stopping beside his father.

"Emira." He whispered, his voice cracking slightly, he dropped to his knees and grasped her hand. His father rested a hand on his shoulder and Ardeth stood, nodding to the grave looking healer at the tent entrance before exiting.

* * *

Next Update: And yes, I really mean it. There's a sticky note on my bedroom door to remind me and everything! Saturday July 1st, I swear it! 


	12. Hope

Of course, sticky-notes always work better when they stay stuck to the door and don't fall off and get lost.

I need to work out a new reminder system.

* * *

Princess of the Nile

Chapter 12: Hope

Ardeth prowled around the tents again, his eyes searching for the person he knew was not around. It had been three days since the attack, Emira still lay unconscious in her tent, her father and Zameel constantly at her side, Haji hovering at the tent entrance. Three days, and Fareed had not once seen his sister, had not yet heard of her current condition, had not been _seen._

Ardeth had searched the camp countless times, he'd checked all of the bodies before they had buried them, and felt a mixture of relief and anger that the nineteen year old had not been among those who had fallen. At least if he had been killed in the battle, Ardeth could forgive him for not being with his sister at this time.

And the younger man had been in the battle. Ardeth remembered having seen him fighting the intruders with the rest of them, and since then no one had seen or heard anything of him. It was frustrating.

Ardeth muttered a curse; he'd been doing so a lot within the last few days he realised. His best friend - a young woman he had not seen in years - was lying unconscious in a tent close-by, her fever still refused to break, and occasionally would climb to alarming levels, she constantly cried out in Ancient Egyptian, and occasionally in English – and he could do nothing to help her. Every day she stayed sick, the higher tension grew in her family, Ardeth and Haji.

The Med-jai leader let a noise of frustration escape his throat, and turned away from the tent that he had been staring at as he thought, his eyes darting around the camp, hopelessly searching for the man he knew wouldn't be there. His spirits lifted slightly to see three horses coming towards the camp, there riders sagging slightly from the heat and mild exhaustion, but otherwise sitting tall in their saddles. Ardeth managed to compose himself, stopping himself from running at the three riders, and instead walked calmly over to them.

He had sent the three out the day that the intruders had attacked on – after they had realised that Emira's youngest brother was not present – they had gone to find out if the young man had gone to Cairo, or if anyone had heard anything of him.

"Ardeth." One of them, Amin, jumped down from his horse, passing the reins to his twelve year old son "How is she?" Ardeth shook his head, his eyes remorseful as he led the three men through the camp

"She's not woken up yet." He said, it was enough to let the men know it was bad enough. "Did you find out anything?"

"Some of Badru's men say that they saw him talking to some tourists a few weeks back." Amin explained "They guessed they were American by their accents." Ardeth nodded, it could just be a coincidence, but he severely doubted it

"There was money exchanged." One of the other men continued "The Americans gave him money, and he gave them a piece of paper in return." Ardeth's eyebrows rose

"How much money?" he asked

"Fareed could probably buy himself several of the finest horses in Egypt." Amin replied "And still have plenty left over." Ardeth looked awed for a moment - that was a lot of money - then nodded gratefully

"Thank you, my friends," he said gratefully "This has been a lot of help." He watched them walk away, to meet their families, and then walked into his own tent, his teeth gritted in anger

Fareed had been seen with the Americans recently, possibly a coincidence, but the exchange of money made that seem less likely. Especially if the amount given away was correct. And then there was what had been on the paper Fareed had given to them, why he had left straight after the attack, and his current whereabouts. He gave an angry sigh and dropped to the ground heavily, burying his head in his hands. He was about to start cursing, to shout his anger, when a noise at the tent entrance made him look up.

Haji stood at the flap, looking at his friend nervously, but there was a small smile on his face

"She's waking up." was all he said.


	13. Believe In What You Want

A/N: This chapter's been fixed, so hopefully all my useless grammatical errors are fixed. Huge thanks to Jinxeh for pointing them out to me!

* * *

Princess of the Nile

Chapter 13: Believe In What You Want

Ardeth raced into the tent his friend was in. Her father was sitting beside her, holding one hand in his own, her brother knelt by her head, running one calloused hand over her forehead, both smiling happily

"Her fever broke this morning." Haji explained, coming up beside the leader as he watched the family, "She starting muttering nonsense about half an hour ago, thought she was getting another fever at first but she's been asking 'what the hell's happened?' for the last five minutes." He grinned tiredly "She'll come to properly soon."

"She'll be alright now?" Ardeth asked, they had all had fears that she would not recover from her fever

"Unless she relapses," Haji said quietly. "She should be fine, though I want to watch her leg, she may have problems off that." Ardeth nodded, and walked over to the small family.

"Dakarai," Ardeth started as he reached the elder man

"She's going to be all right." Emira's father said softly "She's strong. She survives."

"Father?" a quiet, hoarse voice reached their ears, and they looked down to see Emira open tired eyes "What happened?" Dakarai dropped his gaze to his only daughter, reaching out to brush away some of her hair

"You were injured in the attack, sweetheart." He told her "You've been out with fever."

"Shit." She murmured weakly, "How long was I out for?"

"Three days." Zameel told her, sharing a glance with his father "Emi. Can you remember anything whilst you were out?" Emira quirked an eyebrow

"What do you mean?" she asked

"You were talking to yourself, in your fever." Dakarai explained "In Ancient Egyptian."

"Really?" Emira sounded interested, lifting he head from the bed slightly "What I say?" The three surrounding her exchanged glances

"Emi," Zameel started "You were making no sense to any of us. You kept on saying 'I had no part in it' and 'look after her'. What does that mean?" Emira raised an eyebrow, and chewed her lip

"I don't know." she admitted "I can't remember anything whilst I was out, and I've never said those before, least of all in Ancient Egyptian. I don't even know how to say that!" Due to the fact that her mother had pulled her from the village, she had missed a large part of the education the other Med-Jai had been taught; such as speaking Ancient Egyptian.

"Calm down Emira." Dakarai whispered, grasping his daughters hand even tighter "I'm sure there's an explanation. You shouldn't worry yourself on it, you need to get well again." Emira nodded, relaxing herself back on the bed, her eyes darting over the faces of those around her bed

"Where's Fareed?" she asked quietly. Her father sighed, glancing at Ardeth for a second, the Med-jai leader shook his head, no and Dakarai turned back to Emira

"Sweetie," he started "We can't find him."

"What do you mean?" she asked, turning glazed eyes on him

"Fareed went missing after the battle." Her father explained gently "We haven't found him yet." There was silence for a minute

"It's all my fault." Emira whispered bitterly

"No, it's not." Zameel replied quickly

"Yes it is." She replied "We were attacked because you rescued me, and they kidnapped Fareed instead!" she let out a small sob, evidently worried for her youngest brother

"We do not know it was the American's that attacked." Dakarai pointed out

"Course it was!" Emira snapped "We're attacked two days after you got me out of that bloody pyramid, and they're carrying guns!"

"Emira." Ardeth spoke up, leaning over and taking her free hand "You won't get any better unless you calm down. We will find Fareed, he will be fine." Emira froze, and then slowly nodded. Haji came over then, a slight smile on his face as he sat on the edge of Emira's bed, a cup grasped in his hand.

"Drink this Emira." He said gently, gesturing for the others to help her sit up "It'll help get rid of the pain." The girl nodded, taking the cup gratefully and drinking it quickly

"How bad is it all?" she asked

"Your old wounds are infected," Haji explained "And you've broken your leg, when the horse stood on you. You kept fighting with a bad break." Emira nodded, leaning further and further to one side until she fell into sleep. Dakarai frowned, and glanced to a now grinning Haji

"She needed to sleep." he explained, taking the cup from Emira's limp hands "She's not doing herself any favours getting herself worked up. She'll be fine and out of it for several hours. I suggest you all go and relax. Eat, sleep. Visit your wife and daughters." The last bit was directed at Zameel, who nodded and quickly left.


	14. Breathing in Sequence

Princess of the Nile

Chapter 14: Breathing in Sequence

The night was cool and clear skied. A bright moon shone eerily onto the expanse of desert and reflected greatly off the great white palace. The palace itself was dark inside, only the guards awake and moving through the corridors with the silence and grace of cats. A single light flickered in a room, and shadows danced on the walls.

She was curled on the bed, her arms wrapped tightly around a slaves waist, he was asleep, his skin warm against hers, and for a moment she smiled before blindly reaching around behind her. Her fingers found cool metal and slid up to the warmer hilt of the dagger before wrapping around it. Her smile grew into a sneer, and she pulled her arm back towards her, looking down at the dagger in her hand with passionate interest.

The weapon was the length of her forearm from elbow to wrist, and the blade coloured black by ash and filth, the hilt was a deep green, the pommel stone a emerald scarab beetle. The weapon called to her like a voice on the wind, and she lay entranced by it for several minutes before shifting her body slightly.

The servant at her side stirred and woke. His eyes snapped to her and a sleepy smile graced his face as she kissed him passionately, the hand gripping the dagger hilt tightened and suddenly lashed out, driving into the man's stomach. He gasped in pain, and found himself unable to move as she put her free hand to the back of his head and pushed him closer to her, the dagger left the servants stomach, and he whimpered into her grinning mouth as she whispered into his mouth. She pulled away slightly, the servant's silent screams were quiet gurgles now as his hand finally moved to the wound at his stomach. He turned frightened eyes to the princess as she sneered, pulling her weapon up to his neck, she whispered again, her words burning as much pain into the man as the knife wound had, and he squirmed. With a muffled laugh, she drug the knife across his neck and ended his life. His body writhed for a moment in its death-throes, before falling still. Satisfied, she lay down beside the still body, the dagger falling from her fingers as she settled herself to sleep against the dead man's chest.

X

Emira lurched up into a sitting position with a cry. Her eyes – wide and frightened – darted around the tent several times before she let a sob escape her throat. It was followed quickly by several more, and suddenly she had dissolved into tears.

An arm wrapped around her, and she turned slightly to bury her face in the rough material the person wore, one hand curling part of the material around it several times. The person holding her gently rubbed her back, murmuring soothing words in several different languages until her sobs had died to just tears sliding silent tracks down her face. Slowly, the arm around her left her back, and two hands grasped her shoulders, pulling her away from the material she hid against. One hand left her shoulder, and fingers slid under her chin, tilting her head up until her water-filled blue eyes met calm brown ones

"Emira?" a voice questioned "Are you alright?" she sniffed, freeing her hand from the persons clothes to wipe at her eyes. Once free of tears she saw that the one holding her was Haji, and his face was set into a worried frown.

"I saw her," She gabbled "I saw her. She killed someone. She was performing a ritual or something. She killed him!" her voice had raised in pitch slightly, though it was still quiet. Haji shook her gently, silencing her panicked speech

"Who did you see, Emira?" he asked "Who killed someone?"

"Princess Chione." She whispered her voice barley audible. Haji looked worried, his eyes scan her fear filled face. Sensing she wasn't lying to him, he released her, and stood

"Stay here," he ordered her, before remembering she couldn't walk with her broken leg anyway "I'm going to get Ardeth." She nodded mutely, her eyes not really seeing him, her hands went up to hide her face, and as Haji hurried from the tent, he heard her crying.


	15. Confusion

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters that appear in the Mummy films. All other characters belong to me.

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Princess of the Nile

Chapter 15: Confusion

Ardeth jerked awake as he heard his tent being opened, instantly he picked up the scimitar beside him and turned to the tent opening. Only relaxing a fraction when he saw that it was Haji who had entered the tent.

"What's wrong?" he asked

"I'm sorry I woke you." Haji started "It's Emira."

Any sleep that had been left in Ardeth was suddenly gone, and he pulled himself from the bed, pulling his robes on as he did

"What's wrong?" he asked

"She had…" Haji paused, wondering how to explain it "a vision or a memory in her sleep. She saw Chione kill someone." Ardeth frowned, visions were taken seriously, ones of past events were rare – normally only occurring with people who had been reincarnated – he himself had scatterings of memories from his previous life.

"She's upset." Haji whispered as they left Ardeth's tent, the camp was silent, only the night watch moving around, and the two nodded to some of the men as they passed them "I felt it was best to get you – find out what she saw before she forgot." Ardeth nodded, and pulled back the flap of the tent, pausing as Haji grasped his arm.

"I'll get Dakarai," he said before hurrying away. Ardeth watched him go for a moment before he entered the tent

Emira sat with her knees drawn up to her chin, and her arms wrapped around them, her eyes flickered to the tent entrance as Ardeth entered, but she made no further move to acknowledge them.

"Emira?" Ardeth questioned, sitting down beside her "What happened?"

"I saw her." She whispered hollowly "I watched her kill someone. A servant. They were in her room, and she killed him, and then went to sleep."

"Who did you see, Emira?" Ardeth asked quietly

"Chione." She said instantly "I watched her do it." Her eyes flew wide, and she sobbed into her hands "I killed him!" she whispered

"Killed who?" Ardeth asked, generally confused now

"The servant," Emira said through her tears "I killed him!"

"Emira," Ardeth whispered, glancing to Haji, who shrugged his confusion "You're not making any sense. You killed a servant?"

"Yes." She whispered back "No. I don't know." She gave a half sob "Chione killed him. But, I did it as well. I watched everything that happened _through her eyes_. I was _her_, Ardeth!"

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Okay, extremely short chapter. But the next will be longer, I promise! 


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